gigs – Anfield Girl….

Thornton Hough Village Club and Bar

Sometimes you miss going to a gig because life gets in the way, or you miss the announcement or you have other plans. Then you have to live with the hint of regret when you hear people talking about that gig that you missed. Happily because Neil Johnson seems to have a perfect handle on the kind of music I love and he nudged me in the right direction this week, I had the immense pleasure of being at the Blue Rose Code gig at Thornton Hough Village Club & Bar last night. I feel like it might be one of those gigs I talk about a lot – “….. remember that night…..”.

Normally my reviews are full of details and songs and band members and history. I have none of that for this gig. I went into the gig knowing almost nothing about the band/duo – I knew I’d heard the name but that was as far as it went. I was not prepared (even after a few listens on Spotify) for the sheer beauty and passion in the music. Ross and Ben took the small but perfectly formed audience on such an emotional journey last night. In places I was just mesmerised both by the intensity of feelings and also the amazing guitar skills of both musicians.

I had a chance to chat with Ross in the interval, what a lovely man – so appreciative of the audience (we’re pretty cool at THVC to be fair, we even sing along when we’re asked to

) and so approachable.

So now I go out on my Blue Rose Code journey, in an effort to catch up and fill my soul with these beautiful lyrics and glorious songs.

I’m off to find my “murmuration of starlings”

Thornton Hough Village Club and Bar, 28 March 2025

As a photographer and scrapbooker my whole life is documented to some degree. I love taking photographs that tell stories, that mark a moment in my life. My greatest joy is doing that at a gig. I have thousands of photographs that take me back to a song or a moment in a gig, where I feel like I captured the essence of the performer, to be held on file forever, to allow me to instantly recall the feeling.

Every now and then I go to a gig where my camera is not enough. Where no matter how hard I try I cannot capture that essence. Last night’s gig at Thornton Hough Village Club & Bar by Harp and a monkey was one of those gigs. And it’s not the first time! Every time we see this band I am transfixed, by the stories, by the history, by the sheer love for their craft that oozes from the stage. Mostly I am captivated by Martin Purdy and his obvious joy in performing, a joy that just radiates out into the audience.

I can hardly shift my attention to my camera because I might miss something, some nuance of a story I haven’t heard before, a phrase I’ve not noticed before. And so the total sum of my photographs from last night is five But what an experience.

The setlist was as varied as their back catalogue but highlights for me were Pilgrim’s Cross, The Molecatcher and Serenade For A Winters Day. Also Tupperware and Tinfoil which is regularly played and sung along to in our car